Can Brick & Mortar Sales Drive E-Commerce Sales?
Yes, conventional CPG brick-and-mortar sales can help drive e-commerce sales through several mechanisms:
Brand Recognition and Trust: Physical stores help establish and strengthen brand recognition and trust. Consumers who are familiar with a brand from seeing or purchasing it in a store are more likely to seek out and purchase that brand online.
Omnichannel Marketing: Brands that use an omnichannel approach can create a seamless shopping experience across physical and online platforms. Promotions, advertisements, and loyalty programs in brick-and-mortar stores can drive traffic to e-commerce sites.
Product Trial and Experience: Physical stores allow consumers to see, touch, and try products before committing to an online purchase. Once they are satisfied with a product in-store, they might prefer the convenience of reordering it online.
In-Store Promotions and Online Follow-up: Retailers can use in-store promotions to drive online traffic. For example, in-store purchases can come with discount codes for online purchases, encouraging customers to visit the brand’s website.
Showrooming: Some consumers engage in "showrooming," where they visit physical stores to evaluate products before purchasing them online, often at a better price or for the convenience of home delivery.
Cross-Promotion: Brick-and-mortar stores can cross-promote their online platforms, using signage, staff recommendations, and receipts to remind customers of the online shopping option.
Inventory Management: Physical stores can serve as distribution hubs for online orders, facilitating quicker and more efficient delivery options like buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), which can attract more online shoppers.
Where's Waldo?: Brands often are frustrated by lackluster sales online despite spending lavishly on search and social advertising. They are simply lost online among a plethora of brands competing for eyeballs. There is evidence to support that by having adequate Brick & Mortar sales with a presence on omnichannel retailers E-Commerce portals brands can influence SEO and walled garden rankings. Brands with more presence online supported by brick & mortar sales are simply more visible and this can force better E-Commerce rankings.
Several studies and industry reports highlight the positive relationship between brick-and-mortar presence and e-commerce growth. For instance, a report by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) indicated that opening a new physical store can increase traffic to a retailer’s website within that market area by 37% on average.
A well-integrated strategy that leverages the strengths of both physical and online sales channels can enhance overall sales performance and customer satisfaction.
